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Understanding Anxiety and Panic Disorders

By
Luella May

In this day and age, it is common to
come across people suffering from
anxiety disorders. By “anxiety” I
don’t mean common every day
stresses. This type of anxiety
deeply impacts an individual’s life,
often becoming debilitating.

Anxiety disorders affect 2.4 million
Americans. This means that 1 in 113
Americans lives with this condition.
Contributing factors range from our
toxic environment, to the very foods
we eat, to our hectic pace of life.

A
certain amount of anxiety is a
normal part of life and can be
beneficial in our day-to-day
performance. However, anxiety
becomes debilitating when it
escalates beyond proportion and
becomes out of control, almost
having a life of its own. A person
who suffers from this type of
disorder feels the same stresses and
fears that we do with one major
difference: Their stress and fear is
overly magnified.

For example, think of a time when
you were the most fearful. Now,
magnify it 100 times. How does it
feel? Magnify it again 100 times…and
again…and again. Do this until you
have magnified this feeling 1,000
times. This is exactly what a person
with an anxiety disorder
experiences.

A
person who suffers from anxiety
doesn’t experience stress as we do.
Our feelings of stress are of a
temporary duration. A person
suffering from anxiety has an
overwhelming constant sense of
apprehension, very often including
feelings of fear and dread. This
constant heightened state of
alertness, an always-present flight
or fight response, places a severe
demand on the body and accounts for
what happens next.

Physical symptoms surface, which
only serve to further frighten the
individual suffering from this
condition. Muscles, especially
around the shoulders and neck,
become stiff. They may experience
heart palpitations, numbness,
tingling, blurry vision, electric
shock feelings, and they may
experience a sensation of waves
throughout their head. Actually,
there have been over 100 physical
symptoms reported. Too often, the
uncontrolled constant surge of
adrenaline brought on by this state
of constant apprehension will
eventually affect the sympathetic
nervous system, not only causing
disturbing physical symptoms, but as
the demands get more difficult for
the body to withstand, it can result
in what is called a panic attack.

The Mayo Clinic defines a panic
attack as “a sudden episode of
intense fear that develops for no
apparent reason and that triggers
severe physical reactions.” I
suppose this sounds bad enough, but
I consider it a mild description of
what a panic attack actually is.
From my personal perspective, a
panic attack is nothing short of a
simulated heart attack or stroke. It
is no wonder that a person suffering
a panic attack feels as though death
is imminent. To make matters worse,
these panic attacks do not usually
occur in the comfort of your own
home. They usually occur in public,
very often in a store setting.
Another common place for a panic
attack to occur is while driving a
car. This only serves to add to the
terror that the individual already
feels.

Unfortunately, panic attacks too
often are not just a one-time
occurrence. Public places very often
serve as triggers, which result in
additional panic attacks. The terror
caused by these experiences results
in the individual’s avoidance of
such places. The person becomes
fearful of driving and going to the
store or other public places, and
little by little withdraws from
life, becoming homebound. The
anxiety disorder has now progressed
to a panic disorder and the
individual is now classified as
agoraphobic.

Severe depression normally goes
hand-in-hand with anxiety. Because
of a person’s individual makeup and
experiences in life, it is
impossible to tell whether
depression has been instrumental in
causing anxiety or vice versa. There
is usually no way of telling which
condition came first.

The causes of this disorder are
varied. Sometimes it simply has a
physical cause, such as poor diet.
Many times it is a faulty thyroid
causing this condition. Anxiety
caused from a physical source is
usually easier to recover from.
However, in most cases, the cause is
emotional, many times stemming back
to childhood. Poor nutrition,
however, does contribute to this
condition. Those with anxiety
disorders tend to drift to
comforting foods that include
unhealthy carbs, sweets, junk foods,
fast foods, and so forth, thus
feeding the condition and making it
worse. Many seek relief in alcohol.
This relief is short lived and
usually leads to catastrophe as the
sugar content in alcohol will only
serve to eventually trigger the very
panic attacks that they are trying
so hard to avoid.

The good news is that an
anxiety/panic disorder is very
treatable, and it is most treatable
naturally. Medications prescribed by
healthcare professionals are usually
not the answer. Medications such as
SSRI`s and benzodiazepines, only
mask symptoms. While at times
appearing to bring relief, they come
with their own price, side effects,
some of which are dangerous.
Additionally, these drugs are highly
addictive. These medications work by
turning off necessary emotions
needed in every day life. You will
find that many who rely on
antidepressants don’t feel sadness,
but they also don’t feel joy.
Additionally, benzodiazepines tend
to lose their effect after a short
period of time, necessitating more
and more in order to relieve anxiety
and those dreaded bodily
manifestations.

Natural alternatives are a safer and
more effective way of dealing with
anxiety and panic. There are
supplements that will not only help
to relieve those feelings of anxiety
and panic, but aid in total healing.
I will emphasize that resolving
emotional conflicts is a very
important part of healing, as many
times this is the very source of the
anxiety and panic.

Supplements that are just as
effective in treating anxiety
disorders are:

Colloidal
Gold - improves neural
communication in the brain. It
is believed to be responsible
for reducing stress, anxiety,
and depression.

Oleander
Extract - has demonstrated
effectiveness against many
conditions, including anxiety.

5-HTP turns
into serotonin. Serotonin is
important in regulating anxiety.

I-Theanine -
ia natural relaxant, which
supports the activity of certain
neurotransmitters in the brain.

GABA - Low
levels of gamma-aminobutyric
acid may be responsible for a
person not being able to handle
day-to-day stress. GABA
decreases anxiety, induces
relaxation and increases
alertness.

Hawthorne
Berry Syrup - besides supporting
the cardiovascular system, has
been reported to be beneficial
for heart symptoms suffered
during anxiety and panic
attacks.

Iodine
Supplementation - Oftentimes,
anxiety is the result of an
iodine deficiency. It is
recommended that anyone
suffering from anxiety and panic
symptoms have their thyroid
checked. Supplementation is
recommended because a great deal
of us are deficient.

A
person whose anxiety has reached
such proportions will, in most
cases, need a therapist to point the
way toward healing. Resolving
present and past emotional conflicts
is crucial,
together with learning a new way of
thinking. The therapist will teach
the individual coping mechanisms
such as relaxation exercises,
visualization, meditation, etc.
Cognitive behavior therapy is
another stepping stone toward
healing.

Diet cannot be overlooked. Proper
nourishment will result in less
anxiety. A diet rich in Omega 3’s
will ease depression, while foods
containing L-Tryptophan, such as
turkey, will help the body to relax.

An anxiety disorder is a much
misunderstood condition involving
the emotional and the physical
aspects of one’s being. Healing from
this condition encompasses
Body, Mind,
and Spirit. The
best option in achieving total
wellness is addressing it through
meditation, introspection, and by
using diet and the herbs and
supplements that nature has
provided.